CUPE Calls for Commitment to Public Services

[Mar 19, 2009 05:33 PM]

 

REGINA: The delivery of the budget has failed to calm fears of privatization, according to the union representing 29,000 public employees in Saskatchewan.

CUPE Saskatchewan calls on its government to use the province’s relative prosperity to protect residents from the volatile world economy.

“Investment in our province in the form of expanding publicly-delivered services and social infrastructure is going to put paycheques in people’s pockets and keep money circulating in this province,” said Tom Graham, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees – Saskatchewan (CUPE Saskatchewan).

“The significant investment into infrastructure is a good start, but without a clear promise that the funding will be used to expand publicly-funded, publicly-delivered services this government will push Saskatchewan into the privatization trap.”

The Government of Saskatchewan is already examining a highway-build project as a public-private partnership (the most expensive form of privatization); tendered functions, contracted out jobs and restricted the investments of our Crown Corporations like Sasktel; established a P3 Secretariat to study the feasibility of the public-private partnership form of privatization in public works and has committed to reviewing the public delivery of health care services as part of the Patient-First Review.

“Privatization, gutting our Crown Corporations and contracting out our public services is clearly on the Saskatchewan Party agenda,” said Graham. “This budget only reinforces that by failing to allocate adequate resources to a commitment to publicly-built infrastructure and publicly-delivered social infrastructure.”

“A provincial budget is not simply handing out spoils for the year—it should be a piece of a carefully-laid plan to lead our province into a prosperous future,” said Graham. “This budget falls significantly short of that.”

CUPE is the largest union in Saskatchewan and in Canada. CUPE Saskatchewan represents 29,000 public sector workers who work at health care facilities, municipalities, school boards, universities, libraries and community-based organizations.

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For more information, contact:

 

CUPE Saskatchewan (306) 757-1009
Tom Graham, president: (306) 229-8171
Erin Morrison: (306) 527-2084                                                                     COPE 342